Sometime before noon yesterday our friend flew away. He was surrounded by his family and friends, alperfect. I was outside his door about that time, he saw me there. I left some sunflowers and a note.

But today I want to transition to something, I am not sure what at the moment. This death thing takes too much energy. But before we leave it, it did spark some good conversation between Our Jennifer and myself. We actually talk about this more than usual. Maybe it is a way of preparing ourselves.

I was relating to her a story about the Camino and death that we could reflect on. There in Spain along the trail every once in a while would be a small shire to someone who had died on that spot. There would be the usual pile of rocks and pictures and notes in memory. The thought crosses my mind that millions of pilgrims walking there over 1200 years there had to be deaths all over the place but these few are marked.

I remember standing at these little places and gazing around at the local landscape and saying to myself that this woundn’t be a bad place to die. Of course it is hard to find a spot in rural Spain that is ugly really. So any place becomes a good spot. See the thinking there? Yes, I could die here or here or here, yes. Dying along the trail with my boots on looked like a preferred way. So, yes, no problem. The Camino provides.

OK, tomorrow we will come up with another topic. Something will happen to spark comment. I am walking in a few moments. Have to remember to bring dog biscuits for Scout. She really thinks I am lame since I forget most of the time. Maybe our friend will be there with us today as we walk. Yup, and so it goes, thinking of you, love, Felipe.